Organizations
This system was setup mixing several of the Downtime Activies (DMG 127) with what I wanted to accomplish with the Goldfish Clan story arch. Major inspiration draw from the Let's Build a Thieves Guild reddit post. Establishing an Organization A group of players or NPCs may decide to establish an organization, otherwise known as a company or guild. Each successive company cost 200gp more to build and you can only be built along a busy road as long as another one of your organizations isn't within 100-miles of the location along a road. The Company must have a base of operations, that must have space for meetings and be capable of expansions. If it is not capable of expansions the base may be moved at a later time. A bad location may result in rolling disadvantage when rolling on the 'Running A Business' table. When founding an organization there are several factors you must decide upon: * What is your mission statement? * What are your objectives of this organization? * What are the rankings and membership responsibilities? (info below) * Is the Organization political? Does it intentionally influence society? * What are the conditions for the Contract, the magical oath made by Initiates to join your organization? * What are the Boons, Banes, and Assets of this organization (info below) Boons & Assets: choose or roll for one from the tables below, or make up your own that fits the general theme. Boons: Banes: Assets: Running an Organization: There are two types of operations, Central Operations and Outposts. The Outpost are only capable of providing two basic features and mainly serve to extend the reach of your Central Operations. Central Operations * The main base for your organization, each outpost is connected to the central operations base paying their dues to the mother base that provides them support, supplies, and protection. ** You may only build one central operations per province area (1000-miles); A central operations can only be made when a player builds a stronghold. (minimum 5,000gp) In a showing of inspiration and reverence, if the players are making payments or in the process of building any of the above buildings at the final end of a Story Arch (usual an entire module) than the locals miraculously finish the project within a few days free of remaining costs. = Outpost Operations * School, a place of study for those interested in knowledge and the arcane arts. * Hall, a place for gathering and recruitment, recommended when first trying to expand the organization. * Hideout, a place for those looking to avoid the law, gather profits from stolen items and illegal wares. * Company, a call to arms for those looking to kill and get paid for doing so, can lead to recruitment or NPC garrison missions. * Holysite, a place for worship of good, bad, and false deities. Can lead to recruitment. * Artisan, a place for developing skill and craft, also for those interested in gold and profit. Each basic and advanced outpost will provide different perks and opportunities to the players who operate and manage them. Making Money The main purpose of setting up multiple outposts is to create a web of resources and most importantly gold. Different types of Outposts can recruit NPC members who are subject to dues in exchange for the perks of membership. As such, an NPC power structure slowly develops as the players create outpost and leave people in charge. Money is gathered and sent back to the central operations in three ways: # Tenday Dues; membership fees, each non-founding member of the company must pay their dues unless they have inherited founder exception. # Tenday Cut; half of the profits (if there are any) from all trading posts or guildhall profits. # Tenday Fees; fees both gold (sometimes magical items) that must be paid to the organization because of prior arrange deals, late payments, or disciplinary measures. Dues, Cuts, and Fees are all gathered on the first day of a new tenday, Chaunday (Day of Gathering), all costs are considered later six full days later on Kelday (Day of False Agreements) All Central Operations come with an automatic stash, either hidden, vault, or treasury depending on the size and worth of the Central Ops. Initiation & Recruitment 'Initiation Rites: Rites are decided upon founding the organization and can honestly be just about anything. However, one thing that all organizations have in common is the signing and agreeing of the Contract. The Contract pledges the member to the organization through a magical binding spell that allows higher tier members to have some extend of control depending on the rules decide upon by the founders. The Contract also may contain clauses, loopholes, collateral requirements, and a number of other complicated agreements often one-sided that are reminiscent of dealing with a Hag. A common part of the Contract is what is called the Trust, a requirement that the initiate must agree to achieve in order to actually become part of the organization, the difficulty of the requirement varies wildly between organizations. Once the Trust has been completed the initiate is promoted to the Entry Tier and gains access to all the appropriate perks and benefits. Members can be recruitment automatically based on the types of outpost players have established. '''Rankings * 'Level 2 | Initiate Tier, '''not officially part of the company, they have yet to prove themselves, and as such, usually work low end jobs trying to impress upper tier members of the organisation. * Level 3 | Entry Tier, initiates who have proven themselves to the organization and are given jobs in one of the rackets at an entry level. (Dues: Full | Cut: Up to 75% | Fees: Harsh) ** Note: due to the severity of the Tenday Debt, few rise or make it beyond this starting tier. * Level 5 | Trusted Tier, truly trusted among most members of the organization these members have put their time in. They are generally have one or two Entry Tier or Initiates working below them and paying up to them, which they then pay up to their Mid-Boss. (Dues: Full | Cut: About 50% | Fees: Strict) * Level 7 | Under Boss Tier, the "Sergeants" or middle managers of the organization. They generally serve as advisers to the Bosses and oversee all of the smaller rackets. (Dues: None | Cut: About 30% | Fees: Moderate) * Level 11 | Boss Tier, the true racket bosses. They oversee the actual planning and logistics of the objectives and activities of the organization, making sure they are profitable and secure. (Dues: None | Cut: About 10% | Fees: Soft) * Level 13 | Master Tier, these are the true bosses of their region, in charge of all below them they report and answer directly to the Grandmasters. They don't pay any dues or cuts, but are subject to fees on rare occasion. They are usually in charge of a certain "branch" of the organization such as Security or Intelligence. ''(Dues: None | Cut: None | Fees: Rare) * Level 17 | Grand Advisers, specialist versions of the Masters they don't trouble themselves with managing any lower tier members but rather focus their energies on advising and assisting the Grand Masters in anything they require. * 'Level 19 | Grand Masters, '''the highest possible title, usually a single leader this power has often been shared among a council however the council must always be a prime number, the Grand Masters are the creators and absolute powers that run the Central Operations and all Outposts, they are the Player Characters unless somehow edged out by a higher tiered member in a some sort of plot or if the players themselves are not properly prepared the power of inheritance, in which case the power goes to the next in line. Usually the most accomplished Grand Adviser. ''The levels reflect the overall level curve and amount of time it should take to climb these tiers within the organization; Also this promotion system shares and rewards flavor that is symbolic of the prime numbers listed as the level numbers. Founding members are encouraged to come up with their own names for their ranking tiers. Ranked Within: In an ever competitive tug of war, all members of the organization within a tier of each other are compared by the binding magics of the Contract (info above); Each Tenday several accomplishments are weighed against each other and one select member within each tier goes up a level and gains either Boon of Coalition or a Bane of Competition (info above); Depending on if they are being rewarded or punished per their original contractual agreement.